why do you drive a idi?

[IDIoit]

Other factors:
Reliability: I will not drive anything with EFI or fancy electronics, tried that once and it was unreliable and expensive
Simplicity: In the rare case it may not run I can get it running with basic hand tools
Style: I don't drive "me too" vehicles that all look the same
Quality: I don't do cheap plastic cars
Price: they're all $10k trucks no matter how you slice it, new trucks start at 4x that and fail the other categories

Reliability:anything can be made reliable. the only OBD vehicles i have are diesels. 7.3's too. 2 years ago i had a honda accord for a daily.(well back up vehicle)
i was always prone to jump into my 68 pontiac, or any other beater i had at the time for around town driving. the yawnduah, i could get in, and drive 500 miles no problemo.
i got rid of it when i lost my ********* plaque..lol

Simplicity: you would be suprised how simple obd cars really are when you have the right scanner.i used to think like this, until i started working on them. i will admit, now that i have a somewhat an idea of them,
i dont find them hard at all... they took the guess work out of it, mainly due to ease of repairs. i paid 500 for a nice scanner, and it has helped me on my PSD's alot!

Style: im sorry to break it to you buddy, but these trucks were the number one selling truck in the states. which means ALOT of people have them...
i never gave these trucks any attention before i bought mine, as i was completely engulfed in hotrods, muscle cars, and customs.
now that i have my 87, i see them EVERYWHERE! but mostly i look at them to learn what not to do to my truck lol

Quality:again, bubble breaker. our interior is completely plastic! lol not to mention our grille's and trim.
my 1930 olds only has plastic in the HEI distributor. gauges, and tail lights are actual glass!

Price: todate, i have about 6 grand into my 87 F350 6 door, and about 8 grand into my 01 F250.
however this price jumped up considerablly with the purchase of rims and tires for both.
i will never buy a bran new vehicle. IMO its a bad business decision. my parents always bought bran new cars,
and as soon as they drove them off the lot, they lost 10%. but then again, they never worked on their cars.
im a wrencher, and will always be a wrencher. buy them cheap and fix em' up the way you want!

 

[Waystro]

Supposedly it's cheap keep running(mines not) but that might have something to do with the PO

And I like the fact that I can do what ever I want do it like pump/injectors from Mel for $1600 try that with a Powerstroke. Parents had a 2010 duramax nothing but problems truck would go into limp mode if you did not change the fuel filter in Ex amount of time
And it's easier to work on

 

[whiteboyslo]

1. I like Ford trucks. I'm especially fond of bricknoses, but would consider an OBS if I ever found a better deal on one versus an equivalent bricknose (hasn't happened yet)

2. I like 3/4-ton bricknoses because I like to drive stick and had bad experiences with the M5OD in my first bricknose, a 91 F150

3. I decided this truck was going to be the last for a while, so I was willing to pay the price for greater longevity. Diesel was the obvious choice.

4. IDI = no smog. Big deal living here in CA, especially when you consider the costs and headaches of keeping the gassers from these eras smog-legal as the years go on.

I don't need the power, I don't really need the fuel economy (though it is nice), and I'm not one to shy away from the mysteries of EFI, but the IDI checked all my other boxes (being the only diesel offered in a bricknose), so...

Mike

 

[IDIoit]

Supposedly it's cheap keep running(mines not) but that might have something to do with the PO

And I like the fact that I can do what ever I want do it like pump/injectors from Mel for $1600 try that with a Powerstroke. Parents had a 2010 duramax nothing but problems truck would go into limp mode if you did not change the fuel filter in Ex amount of time
And it's easier to work on

Mel actually has injectors for the PSD which are super affordable! i wish i woulda seen his site when i bought a set from a shotty company. im sure i wouldnt be having problems with the truck now.

 

[Waystro]

Mel actually has injectors for the PSD which are super affordable! i wish i woulda seen his site when i bought a set from a shotty company. im sure i wouldnt be having problems with the truck now.

Did not know that. Good too know

 

[FORDF250HDXLT]

i drive an idi because the 460 is a complete pig and i loath the '99 dodge copy cat styling (most call it "super duty".) i hated it at the time and still do.i would get about 6 avg mpg probably with chip truck if it was the 460,and log truck would probably just be measured in time rather than miles lol.
i was looking for a power stroke.i,like many people didn't know there was a diesel before them.the price was much better so i went for it.i worked with the 95-97 psd trucks with other tree services back in the day so i knew they were just the ticket.adding a turbo alone puts them right up on par for performance.i didn't regret the decision and bought another latter (log truck.)
it's all about the Benjamins.the idi rules.

i payed approx 3500$ for both rigs! how can you beat that?
sure,chip truck was just a rusty looking old gal with rusted out bed.srw of course being the f250.and needed paint.but she only had 50k miles on it!

log truck was all setup and rocking a 16' dump bed! he was asking $4500 (and i was well prepared to pay every penny) but i talked him down to $3500.
(i bet it's custom stretched wheel base and bed cost the orig owner more than that alone.)

i dunno about you,but that's a pretty dang good base to start with each time for reliable money making heavy haulers.
sure,as expected id be up over 10 grand no matter what i did per work truck,but they're both worth every penny (i know,just to me.not resale) compared to something else id buy outright that i feel id have much less truck for my $.

if either of them were 94-97 strokes for comparable $ i would have started with one of those instead.those are now way down in price finally too but rusty and high miles around here too.

 

[FarmerFrank]

You can all but *** in the tank and it'll run. If it wasn't for that my first one wouldn't have lasted 6 months. Now I don't think ill ever sell it. First f250 and one hell of a work horse.

 

[ericwade381]

Thanks for all reply guys! Long live the idi!

 

[sjwelds]

Kinda just happened into my truck. Had a Stahl stand-up work service body on it and the guy who bought it wanted it swapped onto a newer dually Chevy (mistake on his part). We did the work and just happened to need a shop truck to bomb around with. Traded him the work for the truck.

Now? I don't know how much you'd have to give me for this truck. I love it. We've had the trans rebuilt, new injectors and rebuilt IP, completely gone through and rebuilt front end, swapped in a used t-case following a failure, bought a used flatbed for $400, added a ATS turbo, and a Duralift fuel pump, and the list goes on. Yes it's still a rusty old truck, but it's solid mechanically. I'm not sure if I can explain why I like it so much, but it is what it is.

 

[cpdenton]

I I had a 94 flare side 150 back in the day and I missed that truck. I was wanting a big truck to pull our travel trailer.i also don't have $60000 laying around. Love the OBS body style, but I have 3 kids now. Crew cab was a must.

Started trolling craigslist and this ad popped up. 92 diesel crew cab with transmission trouble. He was asking 1500, and I offers 9. Settled on 1100 and I picked it up the next day. I have quite a bit more in it now, and I love it!

 

[towcat]

imho the Ford/IH idi is like the cockroach of the truck world. Overall, they're pretty comfortable, there's more of them on the road compared to GM and Dodge, so the parts prices aren't overinflated. they aren't powerhouses like the Cummins, but still more rugged than the GM 6.2/6.5. the fuel ecomony is also somewhere in between the two too. Biggest plus on these trucks, you don't need exotic controls to get it to run. Bottom line is that these trucks will burn just about anything you throw into the tank and when the fuel system becomes *****'d, it doesn't cost a fortune to overhaul it either.

 

[jim_22]

imho the Ford/IH idi is like the cockroach of the truck world. Overall, they're pretty comfortable, there's more of them on the road compared to GM and Dodge, so the parts prices aren't overinflated. they aren't powerhouses like the Cummins, but still more rugged than the GM 6.2/6.5. the fuel ecomony is also somewhere in between the two too. Biggest plus on these trucks, you don't need exotic controls to get it to run. Bottom line is that these trucks will burn just about anything you throw into the tank and when the fuel system becomes *****'d, it doesn't cost a fortune to overhaul it either.

This is the best reason. The roach marches on as it has for 300 MILLION years. It can eat anything.

 

[bigfoot]

I bought an idi because i wanted an affordable truck that could haul a camper over the mountain passes, while running biodiesel made from waste cooking oil. My idi seems to love it, and the hills are really no problem.

I will keep the idi because OBN is a great site, full of good knowledgeable people who are patient with newcomers. i've learned a ton, fixed a lot of bugs on my 21 year old truck. Bought it four years ago, and it runs great. Love it.

 

[ericwade381]

I agree this site is great with great people on the site! I have no reason in any other forums OBN is great

 

[motox tech]

In 1986 i was 11 years old and my dad worked for a small town ford dealership! My dad and uncle were helping the owner haul some hay one winter, and we got to use a brand new 6.9 dually for that! I swore some day i would own one! That smell of the initial start up on a cold winter morning just never leaves a ranch kids memory! That oily aroma lingering in the air while feeling the heat of the 4 speed tranny on your little feet! Ahhhhh sweet memories! I finally bought one in 2003 from a junk yard for $650! later sold it, but regret it a little, even though I have had several 7.3 idi's! Good ol ranch trucks that take a lickin and keep on tickin ! And lets not forget, the old Fords are still easier on your back than even the newest Goats!